Selbourne ‘Live’ from Ventura

[Selbourne]

2 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Meanwhile we've just had a 5.4 Richter scale earthquake here in Jamaica

 

No visible damage near us but I'm keeping an eye on the sea in case of tsunamis

 

As we are beachfront

If the earthquake was in Jamaica any tsunami should head away from you, doubtless towards us 😂 

[Interestedcruisefan]

5 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

If the earthquake was in Jamaica any tsunami should head away from you, doubtless towards us 😂 

Its epicentre was 6km out to sea not far from Kingston apparently

 

That's north of the Island we are on Southern side

 

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Selbourne]

Bit of an odd one tonight. Formal night has been postponed to tomorrow due to the adverse sea conditions, yet we still have the formal night menu. Tomorrow we shall be in our best bib and tucker for a casual menu 🤔

[Selbourne]

This was my yummy dessert in Epicurean last night. I think that’s the P&O logo?

[jh1809]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

 

DAY 2 - Sunday 29th Oct (Sea Day)

 

We had a poor nights sleep due to the rough seas. Our cabin creaks and groans very loudly in multiple places. Usually I do a bit of investigating and find the source of the noise and stuff some toilet tissue in to suppress it, but this is way beyond that. There is extensive wooden coving around the tops of all the walls and this seems to creak loudly where it meets the metal ceilings and moves against it. I can’t imagine that the maintenance guys can do anything about it, so I fear we will have this racket until the sea calms down. 

 

I did a few laps of the promenade deck before breakfast and also went up to deck 16 as we have members of ORCA aboard doing whale and dolphin watches (as well as talks). We enjoyed that on our USA & Canada cruise (when several ORCA members were also on board). The lady reported that she’d seen some common dolphins but that it was far too rough to see anything else. 

 

The only MDR advertised as open for breakfast is Saffron, but we’d been given a hot tip that Bay Tree also opens and as it’s not advertised it’s much quieter. So that’s where we went. Unfortunately, as it’s an aft restaurant, there was considerable movement in there and within a short period my wife announced that she felt unwell, so I had to get her to the bathroom quickly. We returned to the table for breakfast (we had managed to get the table we have for dinner) but my wife ate just one mouthful and a dry slice of toast. 

 

After breakfast we did a lap of the promenade deck which was, shall we say, bracing 😂. It’s really nice being back on a ship with a proper covered promenade deck that you can use in all weathers. On our two previous P&O cruises this summer we either had no promenade deck at all (Britannia) or a completely exposed one (Iona). One thing that baffles me on Ventura (and seems illogical) is that in this rough weather the forward and midships exits to the port side of the promenade deck are closed, yet if you go out on the Starboard side you can walk all the way around (apart from the raised front section), including the full length of the the port side of the promenade deck 🤔

 

When we went back inside we decided to have a meander through the inside public areas on the lower decks. We first wandered into Havana, being unaware that a Sunday religious service was being held. Neither of us has a religious bone in our bodies, but a bit of me wished that we’d stayed, as there was a pianist present whose playing style was pure Les Dawson (for those old enough to remember). The bum notes were every bit as frequent and almost had the same comedic timing. Problem is I’d have had death stares from my wife,  as I would have lost it and it would not have been the time nor the place. I really hope that we come across this pianist again though, as he or she beats many of the comedians we’ve had on board previous cruises 😂 

 

After a bit of a hunt we discovered where the Britain Today papers are placed. Not at reception (like on Britannia), nor the coffee shop (like on Iona). On Ventura they are in the library. Forgot to say that we paid a visit to the Library yesterday. It’s very small and not well stocked. Ten times better than the pathetic effort on Iona but not a patch on the excellent library on Britannia. My wife was still feeling a bit out of sorts, so we went back to our cabin. Our steward was still working on it, but invited us in and we sat in the lounge area whilst he finished. Have to say he seems excellent. Very thorough, although he was struggling to do his job as the ship was moving around so much. I tried to watch the news but struggled to hear it over all the creaking noises in the cabin (yes it really is that bad - I have recorded a short clip of it which I shall post when I can so that you know I’m not exaggerating 😂)! I am feeling OK thanks to Stugeron. BTW many thanks for the advice of those on Saturday who advised me to buy some Avomine from reception, which I did whilst they still had some. I’ve never used it before but we only have enough Stugeron to last another couple of days and the sea seems to be getting even worse. I’m glad that our daughters and partners aren’t with us. Some of them thought that Iona was moving around when we couldn’t feel the slightest thing, but there’s no denying that we are in rough seas now.

 

Talking of Iona, I’m pleased to report that the lifts seem bigger on Ventura (in spite of having around half the passengers) and normal lift etiquette is adhered to on here, so we’ve had none of the lift issues that we experienced on Iona. Fingers crossed that continues. There are a lot more kids on board than we expected, considering that any school age kids will be skipping school for at least one of the two weeks. 

 

The first officer made the noon announcement and is clearly a well read fellow as we had countless Greek and Shakespearean quotes (all of which went above my head) but the gist of it was that we have just entered the Bay of Biscay and it is throwing it’s worst at us. We already knew that, but at least he was admitting that it was rough, as they often talk it down as being “a bit of movement” 😂 

 

As my wife hadn’t really eaten any breakfast we decided to go for lunch in Saffron. We were told that if we wanted a table for 2 we’d have to take a pager, which we did. I asked how long we could expect to wait and was told around 30 minutes. Annoyingly, there is nowhere to sit and wait near the MDR on deck 6 so we had to get a lift up to deck 7. We grabbed some seats and I ordered a glass of wine. The couple sat next to us said that they’d been on Ventura last year and the ship had been using virtual queueing back then, but that now appeared to have been ditched and it was back to pagers. Thankfully we were paged after 15 minutes. We were seated close to a well travelled couple of gents, one of whom works for Saga cruises, so it was interesting to chat to him about the differences, when I was telling him that we fancied Saga but were struggling to justify their high prices. 

 

There were only two things of even the remotest interest on today and, Sod’s law, both were scheduled for 2pm 🙄 It’s a bit like all the good TV programmes always being on at 9pm, but at least you can record those! One was a talk on whales and dolphins by ORCA and the other was a talk on art thefts. As it happened, we didn’t end up leaving lunch until 2.20pm and by then we couldn’t get a seat in the ORCA talk! We went back to the cabin and my wife had 40 winks whilst I did another circuit of the promenade deck. The waves and spray are something else now. Bumped in to Ray who we’d had the priority boarders lunch with the day before and enjoyed a natter, before I went to Tazine for a Mocha, where I’m writing this. Although busy, service was impressively quick again. 

 

Whilst our cabin is huge, apart from the loud creaking there is another thing that is a bit unfortunate. You cannot see out unless you are stood in front of the balcony doors! There is a wall between the bedroom area and living area (which completely blocks any view from the bed) and when you are sat on the sofa in the living room there is a wall panel between the balcony doors and a separate fixed window pane that completely obstructs your view out from that area. Shame, as we spend quite a bit of time in the cabin and love watching the world go by outside. I’m rather relieved that we don’t have this cabin for our 65 night cruise to the Caribbean. The cabins on Aurora are smaller and the sofas are more uncomfortable, but at least you can see out from both the bed and the sofa! Plus the balcony on Aurora is covered, which makes it more usable. For this cruise (creaking aside) it’s fine though. 

 

My wife was continuing to feel sea

sick and decided that she would remain in the cabin for the remainder of the day. I decided to give Steve Terry, a comedian who also sings, a try in Havana. A few segments were moderately funny quick fire humour but the majority was quite old fashioned and predictable (the type when you guess the punchline before the comedian delivers it). As my wife didn’t want anything to eat I decided to see if I could get in to Epicurean, as if I was dining alone I might as well go there! Unfortunately, on the way there I had to navigate gingerly through a stretch of the corridor on our deck where somebody had vomited profusely on the carpet. The stench clung to my nostrils for some time afterwards 🤮

 

Epicurean was extremely quiet and I was given a warm welcome. As the restaurant is on deck 17 aft the movement is quite noticeable and on a couple of occasions  there was a sudden bang and lurch when my glass of wine nearly went over. I knew it was bad as there was a scream from the kitchen, and they are far more used to rough seas than we are 😂. Service was excellent. I didn’t like my starter at all (shredded duck leg meat with supposedly some form of caviar, which I didn’t notice at all - just a green foam). I had a sirloin steak which was OK and cooked perfectly, but wasn’t the leanest. The highlight was the crime brûlée with white chocolate spehere, which was my favourite pud on Britannia but is enhanced further in Ventura as it is prepared table side and is a work of art. 

 

The Headliners show had been cancelled due to the rough seas and as this is due to continue for another 24 hours, the captain has announced that Mondays Black Tie dinner has been put back to Tuesday. I hope that my wife copes better with it tomorrow and I continue to feel OK, if a little weary with the constant rocking, lunging and vibration.

 

Thank you for the interesting report. I got so engrossed in reading it that I nearly missed the start of "Pointless", which is high praise. I hope the sea soon calms down.

[jh1809]

22 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Bit of an odd one tonight. Formal night has been postponed to tomorrow due to the adverse sea conditions, yet we still have the formal night menu. Tomorrow we shall be in our best bib and tucker for a casual menu 🤔

Not for the first time, I've noticed that my taste in food is very different to Marco Pierre White's, as I prefer quite a lot of the dishes on the right-hand page to his recommended ones. Not a roast in sight, which should make Jean happy!

[Josy1953]

Missing Pointless is a disaster in this house, we both have to sit down to watch every evening.

One of my friends records it if she is not going to be able to watch it.  When she went on holiday she came back and binge watched 2 weeks worth.🤣

[Interestedcruisefan]

29 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Bit of an odd one tonight. Formal night has been postponed to tomorrow due to the adverse sea conditions, yet we still have the formal night menu. Tomorrow we shall be in our best bib and tucker for a casual menu 🤔

Maybe book Epicurean tomorrow for a nice meal whilst dressed up?

[jeanlyon]

32 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Bit of an odd one tonight. Formal night has been postponed to tomorrow due to the adverse sea conditions, yet we still have the formal night menu. Tomorrow we shall be in our best bib and tucker for a casual menu 🤔

And on that weird menu, I had the left hand side lobster claw and 3 prawns.  Very tiny, although nice flavour.  Why do they have 2 beef dishes on together.  

[Interestedcruisefan]

10 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

And on that weird menu, I had the left hand side lobster claw and 3 prawns.  Very tiny, although nice flavour.  Why do they have 2 beef dishes on together.  

Also 2 chicken dishes

 

But it's the standard sirloin and chicken dish on every menu every night isn't it?

 

I guess it works for people who don't like sauces etc and want simple food

 

Can't be many though

[rickycheshire]

20 hours ago, Plugtheleak said:

Selbourne as a matter of interest how many formal night are planned for your cruise. Last week N331 was 1 week and we expected 2 but only ended up with 1. Not sure if this was due to it being half term cruise with a huge amount of kids on board? Just wondered if the rest of the fleet might be reducing formal nights following in Iona?

We were on Ventura last week and just one formal night suited us, especially the planned second formal night was listed as being Friday before disembarkation the next morning. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

Is there a limelight club on Ventura?

[Selbourne]

24 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Is there a limelight club on Ventura?

No

[Selbourne]

For the second night in a row, the planned theatre show has been postponed due to the rough seas and movement. Not surprised. Just standing up in it is challenge enough 😂 

[jeanlyon]

Oh dear, it's raining and blowing a gale here in South Devon.  More horrible weather to come, but you should be out of it by then.

[Interestedcruisefan]

15 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

For the second night in a row, the planned theatre show has been postponed due to the rough seas and movement. Not surprised. Just standing up in it is challenge enough 😂 

As long as neither of you are no longer feeling ill I could imagine there's still some good enjoyment to be had going through this weather 

 

I hope so

 

Never considered the weather spoiling a cruise like this

 

Thought the biggest problem would be securing the right time table In MDR!!

 

 

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

As long as neither of you are no longer feeling ill I could imagine there's still some good enjoyment to be had going through this weather 

 

I hope so

 

Never considered the weather spoiling a cruise like this

 

Thought the biggest problem would be securing the right time table In MDR!!

 

 

It’s certainly not spoiling the cruise. It’s just a bit tiresome after 2 days and counting 😂 

[daiB]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

We are very near the forward lift lobby on deck 9 and yes it’s still creaking! I filmed a clip of the noise in our cabin but as I’ve only bought the basic WiFi I can’t post it. 
 

I’ve noticed a list once or twice but we are going every which way at the moment, plus a lot of juddering. My wife feels fine today. It’s still very rough but yesterday we had the corkscrewing that made so many people feel sick. 

You are lucky we had it flat calm for 3 weeks on Iona. The storm we should have had the captain raced ahead of. Keep safe.

[Megabear2]

31 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

As long as neither of you are no longer feeling ill I could imagine there's still some good enjoyment to be had going through this weather 

 

I hope so

 

Never considered the weather spoiling a cruise like this

 

Thought the biggest problem would be securing the right time table In MDR!!

 

 

Something for you to consider for the 35 night Iona to the Caribbean?  She's just behind Ventura so will be interesting to hear how our friends in her are doing. Hopefully both ships will clear it all soon.

[Interestedcruisefan]

10 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Something for you to consider for the 35 night Iona to the Caribbean?  She's just behind Ventura so will be interesting to hear how our friends in her are doing. Hopefully both ships will clear it all soon.

Yep. I can't mention this to my wife

 

She has a phobia of the Bay of Biscay!!

[Megabear2]

Just now, Interestedcruisefan said:

Yep. I can't mention this to my wife

 

She has a phobia of the Bay of Biscay!!

I must be lucky as I've never had a bad crossing down there.  English Channel has always been a bugbear for me though.

[yorkshirephil]

12 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Something for you to consider for the 35 night Iona to the Caribbean?  She's just behind Ventura so will be interesting to hear how our friends in her are doing. Hopefully both ships will clear it all soon.

Yes, the bigger ships don't always do so well in stormy weather. On the Ventura 35 nighter the two days before Bermuda were quite rocky onboard but the sea didn't look that bad, yet on Aurora last week we had 3 days of force 9-10 yet she didn't move about as much.

[Interestedcruisefan]

7 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I must be lucky as I've never had a bad crossing down there.  English Channel has always been a bugbear for me though.

Pretty much every cruise I want to book her first question is "do we have to go past the Bay of biscay?"

 

(This includes Norwegians Fjords, fly in and out of Barbados etc! Lol)

 

(Someone must have warned her about it once)

 

Funnily enough the only time she's not asked is when I've mentioned the Iona 35 night cruise!!

 

There's still time though!!

Edited October 30, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

7 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

Yes, the bigger ships don't always do so well in stormy weather. On the Ventura 35 nighter the two days before Bermuda were quite rocky onboard but the sea didn't look that bad, yet on Aurora last week we had 3 days of force 9-10 yet she didn't move about as much.

I always assumed the bigger the ship the less it would be impacted?

[yorkshirephil]

2 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Pretty much every cruise I want to book her first question is "do we have to go past the Bay of biscay?"

 

(Someone must have warned her about it once)

 

Funnily enough the only time she's not asked is when I've mentioned the Iona 35 night cruise!!

 

There's still time though!!

You don't usually go through the BoB when cruising to Tenerife, we have always been lucky on Atlantic crossings when taking this route (6 times) but of course there is always a first time.